A rebrand brief is different from a campaign brief because you aren't just adding a message. You're asking people to recognize something they already know under a new name or look, and the risk is losing the part they liked.
Below is a full example for a made-up company, written in the eleven sections of a one-page creative brief. The shaded notes are the places a rebrand brief needs something a standard brief doesn't. If it's close to what you're working on, you can start from this example and change it.
Allgood Home Services rebrand
Three family-owned trade companies (plumbing, heating and cooling, and electrical) merged last year and now run as one business with one phone number. They still use three names, three logos and three sets of vans. The new name, Allgood, is chosen and legally cleared.
Customers think they're three small companies, so they only call for the one trade they already know.
Each company keeps its loyal customers and nothing more. The merger saves money in the back office but never brings in the second and third job from the same house, which was the reason for doing it.
Homeowners in the metro area who have called one of the three companies before and liked them. They keep a number on the fridge. When something breaks, they want someone they already trust, and they want them fast.
“Brooks does our furnace. I have no idea who to call for the wiring.”
“The furnace people do wiring too. Same crew I already trust.”
The same people you already call, now for everything in the house.
The technicians and owners are the same people as before. Customers on a maintenance plan keep their price. One number now books all three trades.
The name Allgood is final. The old names appear as “formerly” for the first 12 months. Vans are rewrapped in two waves, so the new look has to work parked next to old vans for six months.
Logo and identity system. Van wrap, uniform and yard sign designs. A letter and fridge magnet for current customers. Website homepage plus one landing page for each former company. A 30 second radio spot and a 15 second pre-roll.
Kickoff 28 September, identity routes 19 October, client review 26 October, refinement through 13 November, customer letter mailed 1 December, first vans 5 January.
The One-Page Brief is free and there's no sign-up. It checks your brief for the usual problems, and you send it as a link so people can comment on the section they mean and approve it with their name.
Need it as a file?
The One-Page Strategy Kit has the creative brief, the messaging framework and the measurement plan as fillable PDFs and Word files, for when a client wants a document. It's $19.
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A weekly note on account planning for agency strategists. One thing that changed, the tension in it, and what I'd do Monday. The first part of every issue is free.
Written by Cody Simmonds. I also write The Rationale, a weekly note for agency strategists.